THE WIDOW of weapons expert David Kelly will today break her public silence over the death of her husband when she gives evidence to the Hutton Inquiry.

The appearance of Janice Kelly, 58, may have a crucial bearing on the outcome of the investigation into her husband's apparent suicide.

A short statement issued by the family after his body was discovered in woodlands close to their home in Oxfordshire said that his life had been made "intolerable".

Mrs Kelly - together with her daughter Rachel and other family and friends who are also giving evidence - is likely to be asked about the pressures he was under during his final days.

Dr Kelly's death followed the disclosure that he was the source of a BBC report claiming the Government "sexed up" its dossier on Iraqi weapons in order to strengthen the case for war.

The story sparked a furious dispute between the Government and the BBC and led to Dr Kelly being summoned before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee for a public grilling.

Both sides will be waiting anxiously to hear what Mrs Kelly now has to stay.

A spokesman for the inquiry confirmed that she would be going to the Royal Courts of Justice in London to give her evidence.

Officials were however still considering her request to give evidence by video-link from within the building so that she could avoid the ordeal of having to appear personally inside the courtroom.

In another development it was reported that an unpublished article written by Dr Kelly in which he backed the case for war against Iraq was being submitted to the inquiry.

According to The Observer, he argued in the paper - written before the war - that while the threat from Iraq was "modest", military action was the only way to conclusively disarm Saddam Hussein.

An inquiry spokesman said that they had not yet received the document.

Earlier the pressure on the Government over the dossier increased when the new chief UN weapons inspector, Dimitris Perricos, said that the controversial claim that some weapons could be deployed in 45 minutes was wrong.

"There is no doubt that the phrase of 'within 45 minutes' that was included in the British report did not correspond to reality," he said in an interview with a Greek newspaper.

He added, "No one, of course, should go to war for a [weapons] programme if they do not know if the weapons have been created. From the inspections, no evidence was found that would justify a war."

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw admitted that the final outcome of the hunt by coalition forces for Saddam's banned arsenal was uncertain.

"I can't say precisely what will be discovered. No one can say that," he told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost.

Mr Straw said that he still believed that military action had been necessary in the light of Saddam's record of defiance of the United Nations and the unanswered questions about his weapons programmes.

However the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell said that the Government's case for war was being undermined.

"The case for the 45-minute deployment is simply withering on the vine," he said.

In an article for the Independent on Sunday he warned that the departure of No 10 spokesman Alastair Campbell - who has already given evidence to the Inquiry - would not end the "culture of spin and deceit" in Downing St.

"The Prime Minister cannot distance himself from the failure of his Government, or the abuse of its power. The whole Downing Street machine reports to him, and it oversaw the mistreatment of Dr Kelly.

"As Campbell goes - on this I'm absolutely clear - it's not the resignation of the servant that matters but the departure of his master. The real Downing Street director of communications must go: Tony Blair himself," Mr Duncan Smith said.

New Downing Street communications chief David Hill is to give up his share options in his public relations company, No 10 said last night.

The disclosure that Mr Hill had 95,000 share options in Chime Communications had raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest.